Suction cleaner



- Dec. 24, 1940- V B Q BEKER 2,226,365

, SUCTION CLEANER "Filed Oc t; s,- 195a 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fi i I NVENTORfiernar d (.Beeker Deceased 7 a?" .i fierfzbefiecieali 2921;

r ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 24, 1940 UNITED STATES.

A PATENT OFFICE SUCTION CLEANER Application October 5, l938,', SerialNo. 233,452

6 Claims.

. The present invention relates to suction cleaners and particularly toa new and improved handle control mechanism in a suction cleaner. Morespecifically the invention comprises a simple, economicallymanufactured, handle-position-controlling means adapted for use in asuction cleaner or similar article-in which the cleaner handle ispivoted as the operator propels the machine back and forth across thesurface undergoing cleaning.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedsuction cleaner. It is another object of the invention to provide newand improved handle-controlling means in a suction cleaner. It isanother object of the invention to provide a simple handle-control in asuction cleaner in which a foot-operated release controls the movementof the handle from certain positions and in certain directions. Afurther object of the invention is to provide a handle controlconstruction formed of a plurality of rigid and strong pieces whichprovide great strength and rigidity. These and other more specificobjects will appear upon reading the following speciflcation and claimsand upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawings towhich they relate.

Referring now to the drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention is disclosed:

Figure l is a side elevation of a modern suetion cleaner embodying thepresent invention with certain parts broken away;

Figure 2 is a partial top view of the cleaner shown in Figure 1 with aportion of the casing broken away to show the invention embodiedtherein; a

Figure 3 is a side view of the rear of the casing opposite that found inFigure 1, with parts of the casing broken away to show the inventionembodied therein;

Figure 4is a vertical section upon the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a section upon the line '5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 but with the handle released forfree pivotal movement, the foot pedal being depressed;

Figure 7 is a view in perspective of the sector element which is fixedlysecured within and becomes a part of the head of the socket element bywhich the handle is pivotally mounted to the cleaner.

The modern suction cleaner is provided with a pivoted handle movablebetween a vertical storage position and a horizontal position in whichthe cleaner can readily be propelled under low articles of furniture.With the handle positioned rearwardly of the cleaner center ofgravity,it-.be-;

comes necessary to provide positive locking means f to prevent thecleaner body from pivoting down; wardly as the machine is lifted by thehandle It is also desirable that the'handle should be freely movable incertain directions but should be releasably retained in certainpositions. These objectives and results are obtained by the controlmechanism comprising the present invention in a positive and inexpensivemanner as will hereinafter appear.

Referring again to the drawings a modern suction cleaner is illustratedcomprising a main casing l which is formed as a nozzle 2, a fan chamber3, and an exhaust passageway 4, there being an enclosing skirt 5 whichextends rearwardly from the nozzle 2 at the sides of the fan chamber 3and exhaust passageway 4. The rear of the exhaust passageway is providedwith a vertical flange which carries bag-securing nuts 6 by which a bagring I of the dust bag 8 is removably secured to the machine. Aremovable motor casing 9 seats upon the top of main casing l and extendsfrom the nozzle 2 rearwardly to the point of connection of the bag 8.

The cleaner body is movably supported upon front supporting wheels 10,i0 and rear wheels H. H, the latter being pivotally carried upon atransverse shaft l3 by their frame I4 which extends the length of thesupporting shaft and partially therearound in cupping relationship, as

. indicated at l5, to house a plurality of coil springs l6. Thesesprings with but one exception, contact the casing and the frame to urgethe latter downwardly to its lowermost position. The suction for thecleaner is provided by a rotatable suction-creating fan 20 driven by anunshown motor positioned within the casinglQ. The shaft 2| of theunshown motor extends downwardly through the fan chamber 3 to be formedat its end as a driving pulley 22 to which connects a power-transmittingbelt 23. The fan chamber 3 is directly connected through the easing 1 tothe nozzle 2 and the belt 23 extends forwardly to encircle a rotaryagitator 25 in the nozzle which is adapted to contact a lifted surfacecovering to dislodge embedded foreign matter. Such matter is thencarried by the air stream, drawn by the fan 20, from the nozzle, throughthe fan chamber, and is exhausted through the outlet 4 into thedirt-filtering bag 8. The bag functions to separate the foreign matterfrom the air in which it is suspended allowing the latter to escape tothe atmosphere.

The cleaner in order to operate upon a surface covering mustbe'propelled by the operator and to accomplish this a pivoted handle ofa general and well known type is provided. This handle is indicatedgenerally by the reference character 28 and is seen to be removablysecured in a headed socket element 29 by a transverse pin 30. The lowerend and head 3| of socket extends downwardly through a. slot 32 in therear of the motor casing 9 where its parallel side walls carry bushings33, 33 which rotatably seat upon the pivot pin 35. Pin 35, as is clearlyseen in Figure l, is positioned within the confines of the motor casing9 and is carried by a bracket 36. This bracket is formed with back andside walls which are secured by riveting to the exhaust outlet flangeand to the top surface, respectively, of the main casing of the machine,the side walls being provided with laterally extending feet 31, 31. Atongue 38 is pressed inwardly from one side wall of the bracket to actas a handle stop when the handle is moved to itsvertical position atwhich time it is contacted by the forward extremity of the head 3|. 7

The sector element 40 is fixedly positioned within the head 3| of thesocket and comprises a curved seat-forming face 4| which lies contiguousto the top rounded surface of head 3|. Raised portions 42, 42 contactthe underside of the curved portion of head 3| and are welded thereto.Seats, comprising cutout slots er sections 43, 44 and 45 are formed inthe sector element and are exposed exteriorly of the head by anelongated slot 46 therein.

Sector element 40 is formed with a'flat end 48 which serves as a closurefor the bottom of socket proper 29 and, through being provided with anoffset shoulder 49, provides means by which the socket-carried electricplug 50 -may be secured against accidental displacement by a set screwAn opening 52 formed in end 48 of the sector provides an exit for thecurrentcarrying conductor 53 from the socket 50 which extends downwardlyand around the pivot pin 35, out through a suitable opening in thesupporting bracket 36, to be connected to the unshown driving motor.

Side arms 55, 55 extend inwardly from the end wall 48 of the sectorelement and lie along the side walls of the socket head 3 I. These sidearms are formed with openings 56, 56 at their forward ends which encloseand seat upon the head-carried bushings 33, 33. One side arm'55 isformed with an offset tongue 51 which may be stamped from it before thesector is positioned within the socket head. A preferable way of formingthe socket unit is to form separately the side openings in the sidewalls of head 3| and the openings 56, 56 in the side arms 55, 55 in thesector element 40. This may be done by a punching operation. The piecesare then assembled and the bushings 33, 33 riveted into place to locatethe sector element in the socket head after which the two elements arepreferably welded together. Thereafter the bushings are reamed so thatthe openings therein for the pivotal supporting pin 35 are aligned.

A relatively strong coiled spring 66 encircles the pivot pin 35 of thehandle with one of its ends lying against the bracket-carried handlestop 38 and its other end underlying the socket-carried tongue 51 on thesector element 46. This spring at all times exerts a force to move thehandle upwardly to counterbalance the handle weight.

Cooperating with the sector element 40 is a bifurcated latch element 64formed at its contacting surface with a cam surface 65 and an abruptshoulder 66. The latch element is formed of two stamped metal arms whichextend downwardly at the sides of head 3| of socket 29 to be pivotedupon a transverse pin 68 carried by the side arms of bracket 36. Thesearms at their upper ends come together and extend inwardly through theslot 46 in the head 3| and into contact with the sector element 46. Byspring means hereinafter described, the latch is pressed into contactwith the sector element and extends into the seats 43, 44 and 45 as thehandle is pivoted. One arm of latch 64 extends downwardly through thecasing at a slot 69 formed therein and is formed at its lower extremitywith a vertical slot 10.

A foot pedal 12 is provided for actuation of the handle latch 64. Thislatch extends laterally from under the casing skirt 5 adjacent the rearof the cleaner and is carried by a pivoted pedal frame 13 pivotallymounted upon the transverse shaft l3 at the ends of the wheel frame l4.Centrally pedal frame 13 is formed wi h an outstanding part 14 uponwhich is formed a right angle pincarrying face 15 from which a pin 16extends into cooperating relationship with the slot I0 formed in thelatch element 64. Pedal frame is permitted a pivotal movement betweenlimits de fined by rigid casing-carried stops l8 and 19, the framenormally being urged against the forward stop 19 with the pedal 12 inits upper position by means of one of the coil springs I6 which extendsinto contact therewith, as illustrated in Figure 5. A downward forceexerted upon the pedal 12 results in the frame 13 being pivoted untilthe face 15 thereof contacts the rear stop 18, as illustrated in Figure6.

The operation of the handle control constructed in accordance with thepresent invention is as follows:

With the handle in the vertical or storage position, if the operatordesires to lower it, he need only to step upon the foot pedal 12 therebycausing the frame 13 to pivot, resulting in the clockwise pivotalmovement of the latch 64 from the position shown in Figure 3 to thatshown in Figure 6. The pin and slot relationship existing between thepedal frame and the latch 64 provides for this transference of motion.The movement of the latch element withdraws its locking shoulder 66 fromcontact with the sector 40 and the handle can be pivoted to any positiondesired down to the horizontal at which position further movement isrestricted by the contact of the end of slot 46 in the socket head withthe latch shoulder 66. If the foot pedal is released before the handlereaches the'horizontal, the latch is again spring-pressed into contactwith the sector and the locking shoulder 66 catches the lower end of thesucceeding slot thereby preventing further lovering of the handle.

From the horizontal position, or from an intermediate position, thehandle can be raisedas far as desired without actuation of the footpedal 12. The cam face 65 which contacts the various upper limits of therecesses 43, 44 and 45 makes this possible. Once the shoulder 66 of thelatch 64 has moved into a higher seat recess, however, the handle cannotbe moved downwardly into a lower range without depressing the footpedal.

It is to be understood that the protection herein applied for is notconfined to the particular combinations of features or elements set outin the following claims. Protection is herein applied for for any one ormore of the features or elements referred to in the following claims, ordescribed in the foregoing specification or shown in the accompanyingdrawings, either independently or in combination.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination in handle-position-controlling means for a suctioncleaner or similar article, abody, a socket pivotally mounted on saidbody in a medium longitudinal plane therethrough and including a sector,a handle carried by said socket, a pivoted latch element on said bodyextended downwardly therethrough and movable into and from engagementwith said sector to position said handle, and a foot lever extendedlaterally from-below said body and mounted for movement thereon betweenlimits, said lever having a pivotal connection with'said latch elementto pivot the latter relative to said sector, and springmeans normallyurging said latch element into engagement with said sector.

2. In combination in a handle-position-controlling means for a suctioncleaner or similar article, a body, a bracket at the top and rear ofsaid body, a handle-seating socket pivoted on said bracket and includinga slotted sector partially encircling the pivoted axis of the socket onthe bracket, a

' handle carried by said socket, a spiral spring at the pivotal axis ofsaid socket in contact therewith and with said bracket and exerting aforce to pivot said socket in one direction, a latch pivoted on said.bracket at the side of said socket and formed with an end having a camsurface and a locking surface which are adapted to extend into the slotsin said sector to permit unhindered socket movement in one direction andto prevent movement in the opposite direction, said latch extendingdownwardly below said bracket, and a foot pedal connected to said latchto': =pi vot it formed with an end wall which serves as the bottom ofthe socket proper.

4. In combination in a handle-position-control a seat-locking shoulder,said lever extended downwardly through said body and provided with avertical slotat its lower end; and a pivoted footactuated pedal frameincluding a, pin slidingly mounted in said vertical slot whereby themovement of said frame causes said lever to pivot relative to saidsector.

5. In a suction cleaner comprising a body, a

bracket at the top and rear of said body, a handle pivotally mounted onsaid bracket, a sector rigidly mounted in said handle, a latch pivotedintermediate its ends and provided'at' one end with detent means forengaging said sector to hold said handle in adjusted positions, theoppositeend of said latch extending downwardly through and below saidbody, and a foot operated lever pivotally supported below said body andpivotally connected to said latch and extending from said opposite endof said latch laterally of said body, said foot operated lever actuatingsaid detent means out of engagement with said sector.

-6. In a suction cleaner comprising a body, a handle pivotally mountedat the top and rear of said body, a sector along the central longitudi-7

